Walking around the perimeter of the grid are various types of cats. Let's go clock-wise:
1-Across. Float on a wave : BOB. Bobcats are native to North America.
4-Across. Provide with shelter : HOUSE. House cats allow people to live in their house.
9-Across. Child seat? : LAP. Lap cats lap up a lot of milk.
11-Down. Valuable carpet : PERSIAN. My first cat was a white Persian cat.
51-Down. Passageway : ALLEY. Alley cat - subject of my July 10th puzzle (^0^)
65-Across. Wander off course : STRAY. Anony-Mouse has adopted a DFAC (Darn Feral Attack Cat.) And now another one has joined in on the fun, named "Clooney." I wonder if they will be feasting on turkey today?
64-Across. Pitcher Seaver : TOM. I bet this was C.C.'s clue! (From C.C.: This is Rich's clue.)
63-Across. Pool : KITTY. I named one of my cats KC for "Kitty Cat."
48-Down. Coffee preference : BLACK. Why yes, I do drink my coffee black. How did you know?
1-Down. Language spoken in Yangon : BURMESE. Not to be confused with the "Sacred Cat of Burma."
And the unifier:
38. Fashion runway, or, in a way, what this puzzle's 10 perimeter answers comprise : CATWALK.
Typical of Don G.-C.C. offerings, this one is packed with theme entries. A total of fifty-five theme letters, which must have made this one a real bear to construct. Each one is a literal type of cat, with no figurative entries like "hep cat," "cool cat" or "fat cat." In addition to that, the grid itself is unique. It has left-to-right symmetry, but not top-to-bottom. If you squint, can you see the cat in the grid, with his arms outstretched?
Marti here, blogging before I start cooking my favorite meal of the year. But let's dig in to this feast first.
Across:
12. Colorful card game : UNO.
13. Sales tools : SAMPLES.
15. Ginger ___ : ALE.
16. Early initials in American cars : REO. REO Speedwagon band took their name from the automobile designed by Ransom Eli Olds.
17. Longtime pop group with mostly self-named albums : CHICAGO. 19 of their 22 studio albums have "Chicago" in the title. I always associate them with this song. 3:50
18. La Méditerranée, e.g. : MER. French clue "The Mediterranean" for "sea" in French.
19. El cheapo : MISER.
21. Med. amount : TSP. Just a teaspoon of sugar helps the medicine go down.
22. NV might be one : REBUS. I stared at this answer for the longest time, before I realized that it was not talking about the abbreviation for Nevada, but the word "envy." I love rebus license plates like "AU H20" for Goldwater. Anyone else have some good ones?
24. Lure into lawbreaking : ENTRAP.
26. Rich ice creams : GELATI. Italian word for "ice creams." Update: The singular would be GELATO.
27. Make foggy : STEAM UP.
29. North African country : TUNISIA. Map.
30. Plural suffix with slogan : EERS. Sloganeers. They are the ones who bring us phrases like "Finger lickin' good," "Think outside the bun" and "Melts in your mouth, not in your hands."
31. Classification between family and species : GENUS.
33. "South Park" kid : STAN. This weird looking kid.
34. Tiny amt. of time : NSEC. Nano-second. A billionth of a second.
36. Heir, often : SON.
37. In the public eye : SEEN. And a shout-out to one of our regulars.
41. "Holberg Suite" composer : GRIEG. Nailed it. Here is the prelude (2:57), in keeping with 62-Across. Prelude or étude : PIECE.
44. Deep bell tones : BONGS. HaHa, I bet some of our regulars weren't thinking of bells when this answer appeared...
48. Like some whiskey : BLENDED. and crossing it at 39-Down. Like some whiskey : AGED. Tinbeni can fill us all in.
50. Sun porches : SOLARIA. Husker Gary, did you nail it?
52. Blockheads : LUGS. That's the way I felt yesterday when I had a DNF. Fermatprime, this one was right up my alley, so it was a speed run for a Thursday. I feel vindicated!
53. Some garage-made CDs : DEMOS.
55. Hood's honey : MOLL.
56. Brought something home, perhaps : ATE IN. I was off on the "income" tangent.
58. eBay action : BID.
59. Someone not to deal with : DEVIL.
60. Perfume with myrrh, say : CENSE.
61. Canteen gp. : USO. United Service Organizations. CBS launched a weekly radio show called "Stage Door Canteen" shortly after the beginning of WWII. The following year, a film by the same name was released, and was a "reality" type movie about the USO.
Down:
2. Not much of a chance : ONE IN TEN.
3. Second shots : BOOSTERS. Like tetanus shots, not Jello shots!
4. "Told ya!" : HAH.
5. Forget to say : OMIT.
6. Bars on many bottles : UPCS. Universal Product Codes.
7. High-five, e.g. : SLAP.
8. Neurologist's printout, briefly : EEG. Electroencephalogram.
9. Excoriate : LAMBASTE.
10. Like Attu or Unalaska : ALEUTIAN. Both part of the Aleutian Island chain. Map.
13. "Buzz off!" : SCRAM. What you might say to a 28-Down. Nuisance : PEST.
14. Deep thinker Kierkegaard : SOREN. "People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use."
20. Remove evidence : ERASE. Like certain presidential tapes?
23. Dedicatee of Beethoven's "Bagatelle in A Minor" : ELISE. Nailed it! 3:35.
25. Wrinkly faced canine : PUG.
26. Gloomy fellow : GUS.
29. Fish in a can : TUNA. A mouth-watering entry for all our feline friends in this puzzle!
32. Demanding word : NOW. "Do it, NOW!"
35. Used an email option : CC'ED. Carbon Copied. When I copy C.C. on an email, I C.C. C.C!
37. Vodka brand : SKOL. Hands up for all those who tried SKyy vodka first?
40. Wall St. deals : LBOS. Leveraged buyouts. "Leveraged" because they are debt-heavy acquisitions.
41. Seat cushions? : GLUTEI. Plural of gluteus. Check out these glutei...
42. University officer : REGENT.
43. Demand : INSIST.
45. "Whatever you want" : NAME IT.
46. President between Chester and Benjamin : GROVER. I did not know that fact. He was a president?
47. Glassmaker's material : SILICA.
49. Coming-out : DEBUT.
50. City destroyed by fire and brimstone : SODOM. Forever linked to Gomorrah as a symbol of impenitent sin.
54. Soybean soup : MISO. I just had MISO last week. (In the puzzle, not for lunch.)
57. Napoleonic Wars marshal : NEY. His troops called him "Le Rougeaud" (Ruddy-faced one), and Napoleon called him "le Brave des Braves" (the Bravest of the Brave.)
59. Unassisted MLB coups : DPS. Double Plays. Needed every perp for this one, but at least I knew what it meant when it appeared, for once!
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I do hope all our regulars and Anons who follow this blog will drop by today to thank C.C. for creating this wonderful community for cruciverbalists!
Marti
Notes from C.C.:
1) When I first proposed "Catwalk" to Don, the word CAT simply moves from left to right. Don elevated into an art. If you black out square 13 & 14, you'll see the original grid design Don had in mind. Thank you, Don, for teaching me by example on how to make a good crossword.
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| Don & his wife Barbara, Summer 2009 |
2) I also want to thank LA Times editor Rich Norris, his assistant Patti Varol, his test solvers and all LA Times constructors for giving us the top-notch puzzle every day.
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| Rich Norris & his wife Kim, ACPT, 2008 |
3) And special thanks to my dedicated blogging team. The workhorse Argyle, always the first person I turn to whenever I experience a blog glitch.
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| Baby Argyle (Scott) & His Four Sisters |
The beautiful Melissa, who never fails to bring us the delightful wrap-up despite busy school life & unstable internet connection.
The avid Fighting Irish fan Steve, who knows everything about food, the really good food.
The super intelligent and cool guy Jazzbumpa (Ron), whose knowledge range & interests often astonish me.
The super intelligent and cool guy Jazzbumpa (Ron), whose knowledge range & interests often astonish me.
The always cheerful and witty Marti, who brightens my every Thursday morning.
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| Marti & Pickles, Austria, 2011 |
The passionate & humorous Lemonade, who brings so much warmth and spot-on puzzle analysis to us every Friday.
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| Proud Grandpa Lemonade & Granddaughter Charlotte, Nov 21, 2012 |
The cool & hard-working Splynter, who has never missed a Saturday write-up since May 21, 2011.
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| Baby Splynter, So Curious |
And the irreplaceable Dennis, who has been bombarded by me in the past few years with daily questions like "Does this theme work for you?" "Can I put this word on a Monday grid?" He's always been patient and always gives me the brutally honest answers.
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| Dennis the Altar Boy |
4) I also want
to thank those who donated, commented and wrote us emails. I
really appreciate your kindness and generosity.
